CHAPTER 6

Mental Health Care for Hispanic Americans

Introduction

The Spanish language and culture are common bonds for many Hispanic Americans, regardless of whether they trace their ancestry to Africa, Asia, Europe, or the Americas. The immigrant experience is another common bond. Nevertheless, Hispanic Americans are very heterogeneous in the circumstances of their migration and in other characteristics. To understand their mental health needs, it is important to examine both the shared and unique experiences of different groups of Hispanic Americans.

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of the Hispanic-American population is its rapid growth. In the 2000 census, sooner than forecast, the number of Hispanics counted rose to 35.3 million, roughly equal to the number of African Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001a). In fact, census projections indicate that by 2050, the number of Latinos will increase to 97 million; this number will constitute nearly one-fourth of the U.S. population. Projections for the proportion of Hispanic youth are even higher. It is predicted that nearly one-third of those under 19 years of age will be Hispanic by 2050 (Spencer & Hollmann, 1998). Persons of Mexican origin comprise the largest proportion of Latinos (almost two-thirds), with the remaining third distributed primarily among persons of Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central American origin, as shown in Figure 6–1 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001b). It is noteworthy that nearly two-thirds of Hispanics (64 %) were born in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000c).

Figure 6-1 shows the percent distribution of the Hispanic American population by ethnic subgroup, based on Census 2000 data. Data are given for Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican ethnic groups. For Other Hispanics, data are broken out for Americans who identify their ethnicity as Spaniard, Dominican, South American, and Central American.